Day 4

Day 4

Dear Students,

Today was a really hard day. It started off quite pleasant though. We headed to one of the head people of the Amal Foundation’s house where we had a traditional breakfast and then began to get food ready for hot distribution. First, we had to pack the rice. The rice was on a huge tarp on a bedroom and reminded me of a sand box full of rice. We scooped it up into take out containers and then sent it to the next room where chicken and potatoes were bagged up and added. Finally it went to the third room where it was taped shut and added to the pile. We made one thousand of these! Imagine how much rice that was.

From here we loaded the food onto. Truck and headed to the camp for delivery.

Upon arrival we unloaded the food and had the people create lines. Lines full of little children from ages two up. Some had only one article of clothing on, others had nothing. Most went without shoes but they waited eagerly for what food we could give them. All started off well as they came through and we handed them food but then things got tense. More and more people came and the lines started to blur. Our people with help from the camp aides had to create barriers and the refugees began to push forward in desperation for food. Little kids began to cry and get stomped on, as older children and adults pushed past them trying to grab at the food. Hands came from everywhere trying to grab and take as people shouted to keep back and tried to keep order. Helped got stickers and attempted to keep control by whacking the sticks near people.

The scene was tense and very emotional.

Once complete we were able to sit in one of the living structures and listen to four women tell their stories of escape from Myanmar. They told of the military coming to their villages and shooting while they ran to hide. They told of their homes being burned to the ground as they fled leaving behind family members. They told of their stories trying to get to Bangladesh. They told of their new life here in the camps. I’m going to go more into their stories later as I learn and hear more.

As I think back on the experience and the emotions I felt from food distribution what I want you to take away today is to be aware of your own excess. Sometimes we take for granted things that come easily. We eat multiple times a day and never really think twice about it. Sometimes we are upset that we have to eat our vegetables and don’t get our favorite foods but the fact that we have so much food is a huge blessing. We can just walk to the fridge or pantry and grab some food. We need to remember to be thankful for that. When we pile our plates high and then throw away what we don’t want or when leftovers get trashed just because we don’t want to eat the same thing... I ask you to think twice. Box up your leftovers and give them to the man on the corner who is hungry rather than throw them away. Cook your vegetables that need to be used quickly rather than tossing them. Use the banana that is too ripe to make bread or throw in a smoothie. Think twice about what you toss and take each meal with gratitude. We may not be able to stop the hunger crisis around the world but we can reduce our waste.

You can make a change.